Rocking toy

ABSTRACT

A rocking toy which cannot be overturned by rocking provides exercise and training in coordination as well as amusement. The legs of the body portion are mounted on two spaced rocker assemblies interconnected through the body portion to transmit rocking movement from one assembly to the other. Each assembly comprises cross members limiting its rocking movement and preventing it from overturning by engaging against the front portion and rear portion of the respective leg. The connection of the body portion to the front rocker assembly is off center which causes automatic rocking in one direction. Rocking in the other direction is done by the rider pressing down on foot rests carried by the front rocker assembly.

United States Patent Bonvicini et al.

[ 1 Aug. 1, 1972 ROCKING TOY [72] Inventors: Gene Bonvicini, Rte. 1, Morehouse Road, Fairfield, Conn. 06430; James Caserta, 353 South Ave.,

New Canaan, Conn. 06840 [22] Filed: June2, 1970 [21] Appl.No.: 42,635

52 US. Cl ..272/52 [51] Int.CI.... ..A63g 17/00 [58] Field of Search ..272/52, 52.5, 53.1, 53.2, 56, 272/55; 280/1.177, l.183,1.175', 297/181, 195, 258, 259, 272; D34/l5 [5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,637,500 8/1927 Sherrod ,.280/l.177 2,363,333 11/1944 Johnson ..272/52.5 2,409,803 10/1946 Schneider ..D34/15UX 2,209,320 7/1940 Cisor ..280/1.177 2,239,982 4/1941 Welch et a1. ..D34/15UX 1,570,849 1/1926 Manley ..280/l.177

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 107,189 6/1917 Great Britain ..272/52 Primary Examiner-Anton O. Oechsle Assistant Examiner-Arnold W. Kramer Attorney-John W. Hoag [57] ABSTRACT A rocking toy which cannot be overturned by rocking provides exercise and training in coordination as well as amusement. The legs of the body portion are mounted on two spaced rocker assemblies interconnected through the body portion to transmit rocking movement from one assembly to the other. Each assembly comprises cross members limiting its rocking movement and preventing it from overturning by engaging against the front portion and rear portion of the respective leg. The connection of the body portion to the front rocker assembly is off center which causes automatic rocking in one direction. Rocking in the other direction is done by the rider pressing down on foot rests carried by the front rocker assembly.

1 Claim, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEURUB 1 I972 INVENTOR. James C056??? Gene ZOIIVLC 4 i2 4 FIELD OF THE INVENTION Rocking toys have long been provided. Usually they comprise a body portion mounted on a single pair of rockers but in some instances, for example in US. Pat. No. 2,363,333, Nov. 21, 1944, two pairs of rockers are provided disposed with the legs of the two pairs of legs extending to the front and rear ends of the rocker assemblies respectively. A rider of these prior art devices is seated well above the points of connection between the rocker members and the legs. The rockers are curved only a few degrees thus decidedly limiting the rocking action of the toy, and this is done for safety to prevent the toy from overturning forwardly or rearwardly. There is also danger of a rider tipping the toy over laterally by leaning laterally. Many prior art devices are made with seats which are so smooth and highly curved that there is considerable risk of a child slipping or falling from the back of the toy. These prior artdevices provide no particular exercise or training in coordination.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE V A rocking toy has a body portion pivotally connected to separate front and rear rocker assemblies by front and rear legs which are fixed to the body portion at their upper ends and their lower ends are respectively fixed to cross bars each of which is pivotally connected between a spaced pair of rocker members. A seat is disposed at a low point on the body portion between the pivotally mounted cross bars of the two rocker assemblies. Hand holds are provided extending outwardly from the body portion above the seat.

The pivotal connections of the cross bars are adjacent the tops of the rocker members and the weight of a rider is transmitted through only short distances to the front and rear rocker assemblies. The curved rocker edges of the rocker members all have the same radius; the rocking edges may extend through an are approaching 180 and each defines knobs at its ends. Cross members are provided on either side of the pivoted cross bar of each rocker assembly and besides spacing apart and interconnecting the rocker members they also cooperate with the front and rear legs respectively and provide stopslimiting the forward and rear ward rocking movement of each rocker assembly.

The pivoted cross bar of the rear assembly is disposed at the longitudinal mid-point of the rear rocker assembly, and the pivoted cross bar of the front rocker assembly is disposed in advance of the longitudinal midpoint of the front rocker assembly. A riders weight rocks the front rocker member forwardly lifting foot rests carried at the rear ends of the rocker members. Rocking of the rocking assemblies is accomplished by the rider pressing down intermittently on the foot rests. This causes the assemblies to rock rearwardly. When pressure on the foot rests is relieved the assemblies rock forward due to the off center position of the pivoted cross bar of the front assembly.

An object of the invention is to provide a rocking toy having a high safety factor and which may safely be I rocked through a large arc.

Another object is to provide a rocking toy which pro- -vides exercise and training in coordination as well as amusement.

The invention will best be understood by reading the following description in connection with the drawings in which FIG. 1 is a perspective view,

FIG. 2 is a side view of a front portion of the toy, and

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 3 but showing the front rocker assembly stopped at one limit of its rocking action.

DESCRIPTION While in the embodiment of the invention shown and described herein the body portion of the toy simulates a horse it will be understood that the body portion may take many forms and may, for example, illustrate a bear or a camel, and the lower surfaces of the rocker members disclosed herein may depart from a continuously curved line and define one or more projecting portions to simulate the movement of various animals.

The toy comprises body portion 10 which is mounted on cross bars 14 and 24 which are in turn pivotally supported between rocker members 16,16 and 26,26 respectively. The body portion 10 is rigidly connected to the cross bars 14,24 by the front and rear legs 12 and 22 respectively.

The rocker members 16,16 of the front rocker assembly are spaced apart and rigidly interconnected by the cross members 17,17 which are disposed on either side of the pivoted cross bar 14, and are positioned so as to coact with the front legs and provide stops limiting the forward and rear rocking movement of the members 16,16.

Similarly the rocker members 26,26 of the rear rocker assembly are spaced apart and interconnected by the cross members 27,27 which are disposed on either side of the cross bar 24 and are positioned to coact with the legs 22 and provide stops limiting the forward and rearward rocking movement of the rocker members 26,26. 1

As shown the rocker members are segments of a circle somewhat less than semi-circular in form and have lower rocking edges which extend through a large arc of more than and approaching and at its extremities each rocking edge defines knobs which, when they strike the floor give notice that the rocking motion is using the full length of the rocker edges. But more importantly the knobs serve to keep the two sets of rocker members similarly positioned and operable through the full length of the rocker surfaces. This is accomplished because when one set of knobs of one of the rocker assemblies strike the rocking surfaces ahead of the similar knobs on the other rocker assembly the first rocker assembly is prevented from rocking further in that direction and tends to slide on the floor while holding its rotary position and the rocking action of the other rocking assembly continues. Thus, the rocker assembly which is behind catches up with the rocker assembly which is ahead of it, after rocking back and forth only once or a very few times depending upon how far apart in position the rocker assemblies were.

It will be noted that the trunnions l8 and 28 which provide the pivotal mounting of the cross bars 14,24 are both adjacent the upper straight edge of the rocker members. It will also be noted that while the pivot points 28 for the rear cross bar 24 are disposed at the longitudinal middle of the rear rocker members 26,26,

the pivot points 18,18 for the cross bar 14 are disposed in advance of the longitudinal midpoint of the front rocker members 16,16. Because the rocking edges are curved through a large arc the chords or straight lines joining the ends of the rocking members respectively are well above the floor and the pivot points 28,28 and 18,18 are well above the floor, preferably a distance on the order of 8 inches.

A seat 30 is provided on the body portion and is disposed between the cross bars 14,24 so that the weight of a rider sitting on seat 30 is distributed between the cross bars 14,24. The seat 30 is preferably on a relatively low part of the body portion so that the center of gravity of the device is only a short distance above the pivotal cross bars 14,24. This fact, taken with the provision of two rocker assemblies each of which comprises rocker members which are spaced apart laterally a substantial distance, makes it virtually impossible for a child using the device to tip it over laterally even by leaning way over on either side of the device.

Extending outwardly on either side of the body portion, from a point above the seat 30, the hand holds 32 are provided, and projecting inwardly from adjacent the rear ends of the front rocker members 16,16 are the foot rests or peddles 20,20. A child sitting on the seat 30 and holding onto the hand holds 32 initiates and maintains the rocking action by pressing his feet down on the foot rests 20. Because of the location of the pivot points 18,18 off center the weight of a rider sitting on seat 30 will rock the rocker members 16,16 forwardly thus raising the foot rests 20,20. The rider presses down on the foot rests 20,20 and thus causes rearward rocking of the rocking assemblies, and when he relieves the pressure on the foot peddles 20,20 the rocker members will rock forwardly and again raises the foot rests 20,20. The intermittent action of pressing on the foot rests 22,22 not only provides healthy exercise but is also a training in coordination and timing.

It is impossible to rock the device so hard that it will overturn either forwardly or rearwardly as has been the case with at least many of the prior art devices. Even if the rocker assemblies are rocked to the ends of the curved rocking surfaces a stop to the rocking movement will be provided when a cross member 17 strikes the front or rear of the legs 12 or when a cross member 27 strikes the front or rear of the legs 22. When this occurs one or both assemblies may stop standing on one end with one of the cross members pressing against the adjacent pair of legs as illustrated in FIG. 3. Reaching this position does not present any risk of overturning the toy either forwardly or rearwardly.

Since the pivoted cross bars 14,24 are rigidly interconnected, through the legs and body portion, it will be understood that rocking movement, imparted to the front rocker assembly by the pumping" action of the rider pressing down intermittently on the foot rests 20,20, will be transmitted to the rear rocking assembly.

There has thus been provided a device in which the desired advantages of safety, exercise and coordination are achieved in a simple and practical way.

What I claim is:

l. A rocking toy comprising, a body portion, front and rear leg means fixed to the body portion, two

rocker assemblies each comprising two rocker members spaced apart and interconnected by a cross bar which is pivotally connected to the rocker members respectively, said leg means being fixed at their lower ends to the respective pivoted cross bars, each rocker assembly comprising also cross member means extending between and rigidly interconnecting the rocker members of the assembly, and the cross member means of each rocker assembly comprising a pair of cross members positioned with respect to the lower ends of the respective leg means so as to provide stop means limiting the to and fro rocking movement of the assembly by one of the cross members of each rocker assembly coacting against the front portion of the respective adjacent leg means when the rocker assemblies are rocked to the limiting position in one direction and the other cross member of each rocker assembly coacting against the rear portion of the respective adjacent leg means when the rocker assemblies are rocked to the limiting position in the opposite direction. 

1. A rocking toy comprising, a body portion, front and rear leg means fixed to the body portion, two rocker assemblies each comprising two rocker members spaced apart and interconnected by a cross bar which is pivotally connected to the rocker members respectively, said leg means being fixed at their lower ends to the respective pivoted cross bars, each rocker assembly comprising also cross member means extending between and rigidly interconnecting the rocker members of the assembly, and the cross member means of each rocker assembly comprising a pair of cross members positioned with respect to the lower ends of the respective leg means so as to provide stop means limiting the to and fro rocking movement of the assembly by one of the cross members of each rocker assembly coacting against the front portion of the respective adjacent leg means when the rocker assemblies are rocked to the limiting position in one direction and the other cross member of each rocker assembly coacting against the rear portion of the respective adjacent leg means when the rocker assemblies are rocked to the limiting position in the opposite direction. 